The Search Is On: Who Will New York Choose As Their Next Quarterback Coach?

New York Giants owner John Mara was not joking when he said there were going to be major changes within the Giants organization after finishing the season 8-8 and missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.

As a result, the Giants have hired a new defensive line coach and coordinator, and while Mara may not have had anything to do with the recent departure of Quarterback Coach Chris Palmer, the Giants are still left with a void that needs to be filled.

It is no secret Giants quaterback Eli Manning steadily progressed during his time with Palmer, throwing for over 4,000 yards and a career-high 27 touchdowns this past season. While there is no clear list of candidates who will be vying for the vacant position yet, there are always those who can fill the list while Manning awaits his next mentor.

Perhaps the candidate that the fans and the media can have the most fun with is former Washington Redskins Head Coach Jim Zorn.

The decision between the two teams could come down to Zorn, in which he would have to decide between the veteran Eli Manning or the young buck Joe Flacco. In either case, Zorn would be inheriting someone who has already proven they could preform and succeed in the league.

Outside of Zorn, the other candidates are much less well known, such as Arkansas offensive coordinator Garrick McGee.

In his first year with the Razorbacks, Arkansas set a school record with 3,115 passing yards and ranked second in the SEC in passing offense.

While the Arkansas coordinator may not be known to the casual fan, Giants head coach Tom Coughlin knows all about McGee since hiring him back in Jacksonville as an assistant quarterbacks coach in 2001.

Former Giants offensive quality control coach John DeFilippo is another name that could be appearing within the next few days.

DeFilippo was a quarterbacks coach with the Oakland Raiders, and served as an assistant quarterbacks coach with the New York Jets this past season. The Jets however have declined to renew his contract, thus making him available should the Giants be interested.

Finally, current Giants offensive quality control coach Sean Ryan could make his way up the totem pole if the Giants deem him the appropriate candidate.

Ryans served as a quarterback coach at Siena and Columbia, and should have an inside track on the field since he has a pre-existing bond with the organization.

The Giants have been a franchise who have promoted in-house with Kevin Gilbride and Bill Sheridan, and could possibly see Ryan as someone who already understands where Eli Manning is at in his career.

New York has already done its best to shuffle the deck and the season isn't even over. If the coaching carousel is any indication of what free agency will look like, Giants' fans can expect big changes and new faces come next season.